William Ralston and Photography

The only constant in Ralston’s wide-ranging career was his work
as a photographer in the family business. Following a period of uncertainty when
the concern was first set up by Ralston senior in the mid-1850s, the studio
became the economic bed-rock from which he projected his other activities as a
graphic artist and designer of bindings; when his artistic work came to an end,
he simply returned to his earlier job as a photographer. In an age when
illustrators were subject to the vagaries of supply and demand and had no
financial security, Ralston had an enviable stability.

As early as the 1860s William Ralston and Sons was a highly successfully
venture and ultimately included several branches. By 1867 the main premises was
at 73 Sauchiehall Street, and in 1899 it was number 259 (‘up the stairs’), at
the heart of Glasgow’s principal thoroughfare and in proximity to a number of
elite traders. Here the Ralstons produced photographs of all sorts, some
hundreds of which are preserved in the Mitchell Library, Glasgow. The mainspring
of the company’s success was its versatility, a focus that must reflect
Ralston’s capacity to work in a variety of styles and genres.

In the sixties and seventies the primary work was the production of
cartes-de-visite, the pocket-sized photographs, usually albumen prints, that
were used as calling cards and became extremely popular. The Ralstons’ images
exemplify the conventions of the genre: the sitters appear in their best apparel
and the fittings include a comfortable chair, drapes and a window. Limited by
the slowness of the shutter in the period before 1870, the effect is
characteristically static, as it is in the portraits of two Glaswegian citizens,
Helen Kirk and John McCall. The company also produced ‘fine art’ or ‘cabinet
portraits’ which were designed for display behind glass or on a sideboard.
Portraits of children, pets, prize cats and dogs and other miscellanea completed
the portfolio. Though his mainstay, the artist found humour in these images,
most notably in an illustration in Tippoo, in which
the troublesome tiger wrecks the photographer’s set: an absurdist comment on the
travails, as W. C. Fields once infamously remarked, of working with children and
animals.

William Ralston as illustrator and cartoonist. Click on image to enlarge it.

Of course, this range was matched by the Ralstons’ competitors in a crowded
field, and the company offered several services that were probably fairly
unusual. One was the painting service, turning black and white cartes and
portraits into oils and watercolours (Hamilton
Advertiser, 1867, p.4). Peter Ralston may have painted some of these,
though it is probable that many of them came from the hand of his son. In the
nineties this line in quirky products was extended by Ralston’s production of
comic postcards; views of Glasgow and local beauty spots were sold in
parallel.

By 1906 the Ralston brand included domestic photographs, novelties and cheap
cards. A final strand was added by their role as ‘industrial photographers’
engaged in recording building developments, new machinery and other
technological ventures. The company continued until 1911 and only closed when
Ralston died.